Method and material for the production of toy balloons



Patented Mar. 30, 1948 METHOD AND MATERIAL FOR THE PRO- DUCTION OF TOY BALLOONS Jens Gunner Jakob'sen, Copenhagen, Denmark, assignor to Niels B. Bach, New York, N. Y.

No Drawing. Application July 31, 1947, Serial No. 765,266. In Denmark August 7, 1946 i 4 Claims.

The invention relates to a method for the production of toy balloons and a material especially suitable for this purpose.

Toy balloons produced of caoutchouc are well known. Such balloons are strong and durable but costly in production. It is likewise a well known method to blow bubbles of soap-suds or other suitable watery materials containing foamy media. Such balloons are cheaply manufactured but little durable and so fragile that they will easily burst.

The present invention relates to a method for the production of toy balloons by means of syn-= thetic filmy materials (plastics), preferably com-.

positions of polyvinyl or polymers thereof, which when treated with suitable solvents will form a viscous, plastic mass, which thereupon according to the invention is blown up by air or gas.

As the material for the performance of the method according to the invention, polyvinyl acetate treated with acetone, alcohol or benzene has, e. g., proved especially suitable.

It is thus possible to use, e. g., a high viscosity polyvinyl acetate in the form of a powder or granules which may be dissolved in the solvent into a viscuous, plastic mass suitable for the production of balloons. The plastic mass is preferably placed in a container such as a collapsible tube having a removable closure.

H a lump or gob of this mass is placed at the end of a tube; for example, of vulcanized rubber, of suitable dimensions and air or a gas is blown through the tube, a balloon will form at the end of the tube and will continue to increase in size as long as air is blown through the tube and as long as there is material for the forming oi new membrane. The wall of the balloon may easily become of non-uniform thickness at different places. While blowing the balloon, the solvent evaporates from the entire surface of the balloon, and at the places where the wallis thinnest, the content of solvent will be less than at the places where the wall is thick. This fact will cause the balloon to expand more readily at the places where the wall is thickest, so that a spherical balloon of uniform thickness throughout will result. When the balloon has attained the desired size, the tube is removed with a twisting movement, whereby the air-hole in the balloon will be closed airtight. When the balloon is torn up and the air or gas escapes, the balloon will appear as a dry, non-viscous mass incapable of making a mess.

The toy balloons made of the said material 5 are very durable and cheap in production. Substances may be added to the mass giving the balloon any desired colour, as also substances increasing its strength or fillers serving to make the production cheaper. I

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of blowing toy balloons from a plastic composition of polyvinyl acetate dissolved in a volatile organic solvent which comprises placing a gob of the composition on a tube and at room temperature blowing gas through the tube to expand the gob in an unconfined space and form a balloon, and while expanding the balloon evaporating the solvent leaving a tough gas-tight and dry material forming the finished balloon.

2. In the method of claim 1, using acetone as the solvent.

3. A toy balloon formed of a thin membrane of polyvinyl acetate, said balloon having been formed at room temperature from a plastic mass of polyvinyl acetate dissolved in a volatile organic solvent and the solvent having been substantially evaporated therefrom.

4. A toy balloon as set forth in claim 3 in which the polyvinyl acetate is disssolved in. acetone.

JENS GUNNER JAKOBSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED s'rA'ms PATENTS Number Name Date 2.866.103 Hagopian Dec. 26, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 407,863 Great Britain June 15,1932

OTHER. REFERENCES Publication, Vinylite Polyvinyl Acetate Resins, published in 1942, 

